Cyclops (Scott Summers)
"Being a mutant isn't what we DO, Tony...it's not a CHOICE. So, do you want us to register for being born? Is that REALLY who you are now?" History Young Life Much of Scott's past is unclear, however it is known that Scott was the oldest among the mutant sons of U.S Air Force Major Christopher Summers and his wife Katherine Ann and he grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. When he was just a boy, his father took the family for a flight in their vintage private plane, a de Havilland Mosquito. On the return trip, It came under attack by an alien Shi'ar spaceship. As the plane went down in flames, Scott's parents fastened him and his younger brother, Alex into the only available parachute and pushed them off the plane, hoping that they would survive.Unfortunately, the parachute also caught fire and Scott used his powers for the first time using his optic blasts to slow their descent. Scott and Alex both hit their heads upon landing, causing Scott to suffer brain damage, which is supposedly responsible for his inability to control his optic blasts, as well as prolonged amnesia about his childhood.The both of them were hospitalized due to the injuries sustained from the accident. Both of them also suffered from traumatic amnesia regarding the plane crash. Alex left the hospital after two days, while Scott awoke a few days after, destroying the roof of the hospital with his optic blasts, at which point Dr. Nathaniel Essex, an alias for the geneticist Mister Sinister, began experimenting on him for a year. However, Scott was initially unaware of this and assumed that he was actually comatose in the hospital for the entire year.After one year, Scott was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska. There, he was also subject to batteries of tests and experiments by the orphanage's owner, Mr. Milbury, another alias for Mister Sinister, who also placed mental blocks on Scott. Mister Sinister also took on the role of "Lefty" who was Scott's roommate and constantly bullied him. Due to both their parents deaths, the authorities separated the two siblings - Alex was adopted while Scott remained there for most of his childhood. Youth As a teen, Scott came under the foster care of Jack Winters, a mutant criminal also known as Jack O' Diamonds. During this time, Scott began to suffer from severe headaches and was sent to a specialist who discovered lenses made of ruby quartz could correct the problem.Soon after, Scott's powerful optic beams erupted from his eyes, demolishing a crane in the process and causing the crane to drop its payload toward a crowd of people. Luckily, Scott managed to save them by obliterating the object with another blast. However, the people believed that Scott was trying to kill them and rallied up an angry mob. Scott managed to flee by boarding a freight train. Joining the X-Men Winters found use of Scott's powers in his crimes and began physically abusing him when Scott initially refused. Unbeknowest to Scott, his powers had attracted the attention of Professor Charles Xavier, who teamed up with F.B.I. Agent, Fred Duncan to find Scott.The both of them managed to find Scott and rescue him from Winter's clutches. Professor Xavier also erased the crowd's memories to prevent any future problems.Professor Xavier asked Scott to join as the X-Men, a team of mutants who would be trained to use their powers in fulfilling Professor Xavier's dream of human/mutant equality, as its first official member. Scott accepted and began operating under the name "Cyclops". He was also the second student to be enrolled in Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. The X-Men In the X-Men's first field mission, he battles Magneto. With the X-Men, he battles the Blob. He also becomes romantically attracted to Jean Grey. With the X-Men, he then clashes with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for the first time. He soon becomes the team's field leader, a position he will traditionally hold over the years. Cyclops has a relationship with Jean Grey during their time in the "original" X-Men. For a long time, he refuses to admit, even to himself, that he has feelings for her, afraid he would be hurt again or that his optic blasts would hurt her - or anyone else he cared about for that matter - and also because he feels he is no match for his wealthy teammate Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. Angel, who is at first also romantically interested in Jean. What Scott doesn't know is that Jean actually has a crush on him, but is too shy to make a move. Finally, on Bobby Drake's 16th birthday, they reveal their passion for each other and begin to date. When the X-Men are defeated by Krakoa, Cyclops is the only member able to escape and return to Xavier. He helps train a new group of X-Men, which includes Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine to rescue the others. When the other original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, and later additions Havok (his own brother) and Polaris) decide to leave in light of the arrival of the new X-Men, Cyclops stays, feeling that he will never be able to lead a normal life because of the uncontrollable nature of his powers. At first, Scott believes that his parents died in the plane accident and is unaware that they, in fact, had been captured and sold into slavery by the Shi'ar. As an adult member of the X-Men, Cyclops meets his father, now known as Corsair, leader of the [Starjammers, a group of aliens opposing what they see as the tyranny of the Shi'ar empire. Several more years pass before the two learn of each other's true identities. He later comes into contact with his grandparents, who he learns are still alive and own a shipping company in Canada. Cyclops privately questions his relationship with Jean after Jean dies trying to pilot a space shuttle through a solar flare, and then is reborn as Phoenix, feeling that this reborn Jean was not the same Jean he had loved. Yet when he thinks her dead for an extended period of time after a battle in the Savage Land, Scott is not able to mourn her, and believes this meant he didn't really love her anymore. He briefly dates Colleen Wing of the Heroes for Hire group. However, when Scott and Jean are reunited on Muir Island to fight Proteus, he rediscovers his love for her, and they share a passionate kiss on the way home. A few days before Jean dies, Scott psychically proposes, and she accepts. After her death, he quits the X-Men, unsure of what to do anymore. He signs on as crew of a fishing boat, captained by Lee Forrester. After an adventure in which Lee's father is possessed by D'Spayre, and Cyclops and the Man-Thing must fight D'Spayre, Scott and Lee find themselves shipwrecked in the Bermuda Triangle, where they stumble upon Magneto's new base of operations. Scott soon returns to the X-Men. He then discovers that Corsair is actually his father. Eventually, Scott marries Madelyne Pryor, a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Jean. Scott later battles Storm for undisputed leadership of the X-Men, and after being defeated he retires from the X-Men. Madelyne bears him a son, Nathan. X-Factor and Inferno Shortly after the birth of Nathan, it is revealed that Jean is not dead. The Phoenix is revealed to be a cosmic entity who had supplanted Jean, placing her in a healing pod at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, to be eventually revived by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Cyclops leaves his wife and son and returns to Jean, although Warren moves in on the now single woman. Jean joins with Cyclops and the other original X-Men as X-Factor, who pose as mutant hunters but in reality are trying to help their genetic brethren. Meanwhile, Pryor goes on to be an assisting member of the X-Men, apparently sacrificing her life during the Fall of the Mutants with her teammates, although she was left with feelings of despair over the loss of Scott, who felt bad himself over the way he had handled the situation. No longer married, Scott moves on. During an adventure, his teammate Warren, the Angel, loses his wings. Bitter, Angel is transformed by a villain the team recently encountered, immortal mutant Apocalypse, into Death, general of his Horsemen. Iceman manages to bring Warren back, who becomes Archangel. The demons S'ym and N'astirh corrupt Madelyne's feelings of self-despair, transforming her into the Goblin Queen. Madelyne seeks revenge on Scott for leaving her. When it is revealed that she is a clone created by geneticist Mister Sinister, essentially for the purpose of becoming a brood mare, Madelyne can't take it any more and kills herself. Scott seemingly kills Sinister with an optic blast, and pursues a romance with Jean, reclaiming his son. Scott soon learns that Mister Sinister ran the orphanage in which Scott was raised, and battled Sinister over this. Shortly after the X-Tinction Agenda, Scott re-encounters Apocalypse, who infects Nathan with a techno-organic virus. Although Scott saves his son with the help of his fellow teammates and through the combined strength of Nathan, Jean, and himself defeats Apocalypse, he was unable to save his son from the fatal infection. Distraught, Scott sends his son into the future where he can be cured. Return to the X-Men After Cyclops' return as field leader, much of the Blue team is kidnapped by Omega Red and the ninjas of The Hand. After the captured teammates' rescue, Mr. Sinister sends Caliban, a former X-Factor member, to kidnap Cyclops and Jean for Stryfe, a madman and rival to Cable, both time-lost mutants. Stryfe tells the two that he is Nathan, sent to the future and abandoned. In a fight, Cable and Stryfe apparently die. Afterwards, the team battles Omega Red again, and fellow teammate and telepath Psylocke tries to lure Cyclops into an affair behind Jean's back, however, Cyclops remains with Jean. Cable returns as well and reveals to Cyclops that he is the real Nathan Christopher Summers. Second Marriage Scott Summers and Jean Grey finally marry. During their honeymoon, they are brought into the future where they raise Cable for the first 12 years of his life during The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix miniseries. After helping Cable defeat the future version of Apocalypse, they are sent back to the past. At the request of Rachel Summers, Jean assumes the Phoenix identity. Mister Sinister, involved with the machinations of Apocalypse and Stryfe and still alive, tells Cyclops that there is another Summers brother, and leaves him wondering. As Cyclops deals with the fact that his son is now old enough to be his father, the X-Men are forced to battle their mentor when Professor Xavier is transformed into the evil Onslaught as a result of mind-wiping Magneto. Although the X-Men defeat the evil entity and free Xavier, most of Earth's heroes are lost for a time. Xavier, who is left powerless after Onslaught's defeat, is arrested for his part, leaving Scott and Jean as leaders and co-headmasters of the school. However, the pair go into retirement following Operation: Zero Tolerance, in which Cyclops is gravely injured when a bomb is placed in his chest. Merging with Evil Scott and Jean return to the X-Men some time after at the request of Storm, when she grows concerned about the mental well-being of Professor X (who had returned sometime prior).& issue needed Their return then leads to the events of The Twelve, in which Apocalypse locates twelve mutants which can power a machine to allow him to take the body of Nate Grey, the X-Man. In order to save Nate, Cyclops willingly merges with the villain Apocalypse. He is believed dead until Jean and Cable track him down to Egypt and separate him from Apocalypse, killing Apocalypse's spirit in the process. Marital Problems Upon Cyclops' return to the X-Men following his possession, there is a rather drastic change in his personality, as a result of being bonded with Apocalypse. This change causes a rift to develop between Jean and himself, and he claims Apocalypse made him question not only their relationship, but his life as a whole. He is instrumental in preventing the mutant Xorn's suicide and in recruiting the powerful mutant to the X-Men. Surprisingly, the two establish a close friendship, which is almost unprecedented in Cyclops' personal history; similarly, repeated missions with Wolverine result in the growth of a tentative friendship between the two veteran X-Men. When Jean begins to show signs of the Phoenix Force again, the distance between the two grows larger and Scott begins what others would dub his "celibacy kick." Jean attempts several times to confront Cyclops, but he continues to push her away claiming that Apocalypse had changed him too much on the inside. When Xavier leaves Earth while under the control of Cassandra Nova, Jean is left as Headmistress of the school. Her new responsibilities along with her growing powers, force Jean to put her attention elsewhere leaving Scott feeling ignored. Scott turns to Emma Frost, a former villainess who had reformed, been the headmistress of Generation X, and eventually joined the X-Men. Their relationship ostensibly begins as a series of psychic therapy sessions, but Emma takes advantage of this situation to get closer to Scott. Under the guise of counseling him, she instigates a telepathic affair. When Phoenix discovers the affair, Cyclops claims he and Emma shared only thoughts and thus had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, Emma's snide and mocking jeers provoke a hurt and angry Jean to psychically confront her. She forces Emma to admit her true feelings for Scott, and also come to terms with her many failures, sins, and personal demons. Furious at both himself and Jean, Scott confronts her and demands she read his mind; Jean finally complies, only to discover that Scott and Emma never actually engaged in any physical contact, though Emma had offered it. Yet, despite the fact that the affair was not a physical one, to a telepath such as Jean (who for years shared an intimate psychic rapport with Scott) the incident is just as bad if not worse. Unable to fully confront everyone about his actions, Scott runs away from the Xavier Institute just after Emma has been shattered in her diamond form and supposedly killed. He soon finds himself at Hellfire Club which had been turned into a sleazy strip club and tries to get drunk off white wine while generally trying to escape the responsibilities, expectations, and demands he feels are unjustly placed on him by the X-Men. He then accompanies Wolverine and Fantomex to the government-created time-pocket called The World and then Asteroid M. During his time with Wolverine, Scott reveals that he feels his relationship with Jean is stagnant and that the two of them had not progressed romantically since their initial teenage romance. He also confesses that he feels that Jean is so concerned with the school and her new powers that the two no longer communicate like before and that he feels left behind due to Jean once again being connected to the Phoenix Force. When Scott finally returns to the X-Men, their new teammate Xorn (who was revealed to be Magneto, but was subsequently retconned as an imposter) attacks the X-Men. Having at last reached full Phoenix power, Jean confronts Xorn-Magneto and is killed in the process. As she is dying, Scott apologizes for hurting her, but Jean instead tells him that she understands and has never seen him more alive and urges him to live on. Headmaster the head master is my abnormaly large cock Astonishing X-Men In Astonishing X-Men #14, during an impromptu telepathic "therapy session", Emma Frost presented Cyclops with the possibility that his lack of control over his optic blasts actually stems not from physical brain damage, but from a sort of mental block that the young Scott imposed upon himself after the combined traumas of the loss of his parents, separation from his brother, and shocking manifestation of his powers; this is seen as a coping mechanism, giving Scott something to focus on and try to maintain some sort of control over at a time when events completely out of his control had effectively shattered the life he had led up to that point. Scott admits that this theory is the truth, further admitting that he had blocked making this decision out of his memory, to preserve the fallacy in his own mind and prevent others from discovering his "secret." The issue ends with Scott apparently in a catatonic state, with his eyes uncovered and displaying their natural shade of brown, with no evidence of his powers manifesting. Later he manifests, and has full control over his optical blasts. Deadly Genesis After the events of House of M, nearly all mutants were left depowered, and Xavier was missing. A mysterious villain then attacked and easily defeated several members of the team, including Cyclops and his alternate-reality daughter, Rachel. The two were captured and taken to an undisclosed location, which Cyclops vaguely remembered visiting in the past. Eventually managing to free themselves, Cyclops and Rachel attempted to escape, only to run into their captor (revealed to be Vulcan), who informed Cyclops that he was the X-Man's younger brother. A powerless Professor Xavier confirmed this information in the final book of the miniseries. This new information has left Cyclops resentful towards his mentor and has gone so far as to demand that Xavier leave the school as it is no longer 'his'. Civil War Cyclops, along with the other surviving original X-Men, declare neutrality on the subject of Civil War, reasoning that the X-Men sympathized too much with Captain America's side - who, like the X-Men, were persecuted for wanting to do the right thing - but believed that the mutant race had suffered too great a loss recently to take a side either way due to the recent depowerment of so many mutants. When Bishop leaves the team to join the Registration supporters and locate the escaped 198, Cyclops eventually helps the futuristic X-Man in recovering them. World War Hulk Cyclops is listed as a target on Hulk's "Hit List" of characters. He is seen fighting the Hulk in World War Hulk: X-Men #1, he uses a full beam blast to stop the Hulk, refusing to let the Hulk take Professor Xavier regardless of his own feelings towards his mentor regarding the truth about Krakoa. While it peels off some of the Hulk's skin, he was able to walk towards Cyclops and clench his entire face, effectively containing the blast. After Hulk left when Mercury told him about the mutant race being near-extinct, Cyclops began to forgive Professor X while the wounded were being tended to. Messiah Complex Cyclops leads a team to Alaska to find the new mutant detected by Cerebra. When the team arrives, they find nearly every child in the town killed, dead Marauders and Purifiers, and the baby gone. He sends a team consisting of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Colossus to find former Acolytes for information on the Marauders. He argues with Xavier, who complains about not telling him about his team. Scott tells Xavier it's not his X-Men anymore and that he can do what he wants. Scott also calls in X-Factor to help with the situation, asks Rictor to infiltrate the Purifiers, and asks Madrox and Layla Miller to go see Forge. Upon discovering that Cable has kidnapped the new born mutant, Cyclops orders the reforming of X-Force with Wolverine leading the team. Their first mission is to hunt down Cable and retrieve the baby. Cyclops later breaks all ties with Professor X and asks him to leave the mansion, as Xavier continues to question Cyclops' judgement. Later on, Cyclops is seen with his own team and X-Factor, to help out Wolverine against the Reavers and to capture the baby from Cable. Cable eludes the X-Men. After finding the Marauders' hideout on Muir Island, Cyclops dispatches X-Force and Bishop to go there and retrieve the baby. During the final battle, Cyclops sends the New X-Men against the Marauders, believing that Sinister's forces will be caught off guard by unfamiliar opponents. The students prove to be effective. Cyclops then confronts Cable demanding the baby. Cable, with a gun pointed at his father, begs Cyclops to let him escape into the future with the baby, however Cable gives the child to Cyclops, after Xavier points out that the future of all mutantkind is at stake and Cyclops, as leader of the X-Men, speaks for mutantkind. Cyclops holds the baby and, realizing that the child deserves the chance to make its own destiny, gives her back to Cable. Cable teleports to the future just as Bishop fires a round at the child. The shot misses her and hits Xavier in the head. Cyclops strikes Bishop with an optic blast, and Cyclops declares the X-Men disbanded. Manifest Destiny and controversy During the interim period, Cyclops goes on a vacation with Emma to the Savage Land after refusing Tony Stark's request to have the X-Men as part of the Fifty State Initiative. There, they are contacted by Warren asking them for assistance in San Francisco. Scott and Emma are successful in rescuing not only Warren and the other X-Men, but also in rescuing San Francisco as a whole. As a result, the Mayor of the city offers to help the X-Men reestablish themselves in the city. After building a new headquarters, Cyclops sends word to all the world's mutants that San Francisco, which has welcomed the X-Men with open-arms, is now a safe haven for mutant-kind and that all are welcomed to join them. The X-Men's presence is widely approved of by San Francisco, including the police, who now hire the team to aid them in cases that might be out of their area. Cyclops dispatches Wolverine to track down Mystique and revives X-Force as a clandestine black-ops team whose mission is to take down threats to the X-Men that they cannot deal with while under the public eye. Cyclops places Wolverine in charge of the team and adamantly keeps X-Force's existence secret from the other X-Men, including Emma Frost (manifested as a psychic "black box" in his mind that Emma is unable to open), also demanding that X-Force remain unknown to the public. However, Cyclops utilizes other X-Men for parts of the groups mission, including Beast and the Stepford Cuckoos. The team is sometimes less careful, leaving blood-stained clothing around, piquing Emma's suspicions. The controversy of Cyclops' decisions as leader of the X-Men is further highlighted during the Skrull invasion of San Francisco when he readily utilizes biological warfare against the Skrulls by knowingly infecting them with an adapted version of the Mutant Legacy Virus created by Beast without first determining if there was also a cure. In another controversial decision, Cyclops sends X-Force to track down the Leper Queen who is infecting mutants with a strain of the Legacy Virus to use their uncontrolled powers in attacks against humanity in order to stir up anti-mutant hysteria. While on the mission, Beast locates Cable in the future and Cyclops orders X-Force to abandon the current mission and prepare for transport to the future to assist Cable and the baby. Despite knowing that the Leper Queen has kidnapped and intends to kill Hellion, Surge, and Boom Boom, and despite the protests from both X-Force and Beast that a few more minutes is all that is needed to kill her and save the students, Cyclops activates the time machine. Though Domino is only moments away from killing the Leper Queen, the team is transported to the future and the Leper Queen shoots Boom Boom in the head, while Hellion and Surge are injected and sent to the United Nations building for another attack. Mutant/Anti-muting rioting and the Sisterhood of Mutants Footage of Cooperstown, Alaska from X-Men: Messiah Complex is eventually released to the media by Simon Trask, designed to deceive the public into believing that the destruction was caused by the newborn mutant messiah rather than the Purifiers. The footage, coupled with Trask's newly formed "Humanity Now! Coalition" pushing anti-mutant legislation, dubbed "Proposition X," aiming to control mutant reproduction, causes an increase in mutant hate crimes, causing Scott to open the X-Men's base to anyone seeking refuge. During this time, his growing secrecy concerning X-Force and Emma's suspicions that he is keeping something from her which begins creating a rift between himself and Emma. Taking advice from Storm that Scott's actions are always in the best interest of mutant-kind, Emma secretly agrees to participate in Norman Osborn's Cabal in her own attempt to insure the protection of the mutant population. Scott encounters his dead ex-wife, Madelyne Pryor, again when she inexplicably returns as a psychic ghost, calling herself the Red Queen and with a newly assembled all-female team of mutants calling themselves the Sisterhood. Her team attacks the X-Men and Madelyne steals a lock of Jean's hair in Wolverine's possession, with the goal of using it to locate and inhabit Jean's body, allowing her to be reborn. Scott employs Domino to exhume Jean's grave and swap her body with another. Unaware of the switch and spurning Scott's attempt to reach out to her, Madelyne attempts to possess the body, but seemingly disintegrates into nothingness as no other body than Jean Grey's can house an entity of Madelyne's level of power. Utopia After the battle with Madelyne and the Sisterhood, Beast confronts Scott and Emma, stating that he is aware of both of their clandestine actions and that they will discuss them at length together or their secrets will tear the X-Men apart. In the limited crossover tie-in, Dark X-Men/Dark Avengers: Utopia, the growing unrest among the mutant population and calculated instigation from Trask and Humanity Now! leads to violent rioting from mutants against the anti-mutant coalition in San Francisco. Though supported by the mayor, Cyclops is largely viewed as the leader of the remaining mutant population by the media and he takes the brunt of negative media and public opinion, implicated as endorsing and sending the X-Men to lead the rioting. Trask capitalizes on the hysteria, portraying Humanity Now! as victims of oppression in order to push Proposition X. Norman Osborn utilizes the Dark Avengers to stop the riots and arrest Cyclops and his team of X-Men, calling in Emma to lead a new team of Dark X-Men. Emma agrees to lead the team, which will answer to Osborn, as the Black Queen. Marvel writer Matt Fraction indicated that Emma's alliance with Osborn will place Scott and Emma at odds with one another, providing "a profound schism". Cyclops travels to Osborn's base on Alcatraz Island to speak with him. Osborn tells Cyclops that they can end the riots and hysteria here right now but Cyclops interrupts him and orders him to surrender. A shocked Osborn asks what he means and Cyclops replies that Osborn needs to get the riots under control and then withdraw H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Dark Avengers and leave San Francisco to him and the X-Men. When Osborn refuses Cyclops leaves telling Osborn that he tried. After Cyclops leaves, Osborn tells Victoria Hand that when the time comes Osborn is going to kill Cyclops personally. As Emma's Dark X-Men slowly get the city under control, Cyclops continues to form his plans to deal with the situation. Scott assigns his X-Men (such as Moonstar, Domino, Mindee Cuckoo, and Psylocke) different tasks, as well as having another team observe Emma's team, as they deal with a group of bio-sentinels attacking San Francisco. When asked how they're expected to take out both the Dark X-Men and Dark Avengers, Scott retorts "Who said you're the squad that's supposed to stop the Avengers?". Scott's plan finally comes together as he has Magik teleport X-Force into H.A.M.M.E.R's Alcatraz Island, where they take on the Dark X-Men and Avengers, while Magik teleports all the captured mutants to safety. X-Force is aided by Emma and Namor, who are revealed to be double-agents against Osborn. Immediately after, Scott has the X-Club resurrect Asteroid M which crashed into the Pacific Coast a few years prior. Cyclops then orders Magik and Pixie to teleport every X-Man and allied mutant to what he now calls 'Utopia'. During a press conference, Cyclops informs the world that they have left the United States and that they reject Norman Osborn and his methods. Utopia's Leader Magneto arrived on Utopia, claiming he is very grateful for all that Cyclops has done for mutant kind, and that he wished to join with them. Cyclops accepted Magneto despite Xavier's advice to the contrary. However, Cyclops accepted Xavier's help to free Emma Frost from the sliver of the Void which remained behind after she telepathically defeated Sentry. Xavier linked Cyclops to Frost's mind. Inside her mind, he found a pure white room which appeared to be filed with many different diamond figures representing different aspects of Emma. Emma's main consciousness approached him, but as soon as they began discussing how to extract the Void all the other aspects of Emma began to attack him crying out that they didn't want to feel pain. Realising that the attacking figures were not really a part of Emma's mind, Cyclops attacked back. He used a telepathic version of his optic blast to shoot through the vast whiteness inside Emma's mind. This acted as a beacon to the real Emma who found him again. However, while she was ejected out of the telepathic link back into the physical world (transformed out of her diamond form), Cyclops lay on the floor unconscious. She claimed that the Void had passed into Cyclop's mind inside his mind, Cyclops sat among the remains of the destroyed Mansion, with a black mass hidden among the rubble. Scott was confronted by shadowy female figures who ask him why he didn't save them and tell him he will never be the man he wants to be unless he lets the Void in. Emma appears on the scene and destroys the figures and together they attempts climb up some stairs, but the Void grabs Scott and separates him from Emma. In the "physical world", Scott screams in pain, and Professor X tells Psylock that if Cyclops wakes up before Emma, the Void has taken over him and Psylock must kill him. In the meantime, the Void is still trying to convince Scott to let it take control. Scott responds by shooting at it with his Optic Blast. He is then seen in a white room which Emma cannot enter. Since this is Scott's mind, anything he thinks about long enough is possible. He is thinking that Emma cannot enter this room, to Emma's dismay, he tells he to trust him and the door of the room closes in front of her, and she wakes up. Psylock was about to finish off Scott, but Emma tells her to give him a chance. Scott sits on the ground with a black box in front of him while the Void starts to engulf him. He hold up the box, and suddenly the Void disappears and is trapped in the box. He tells the Void that as a teenager he dated a powerful telepath, referring to Jean Grey, and this appears as she placed this box as a "phsychic prison" that he used to contain the Void. He thanks Jean and says that he owes her another one. He closes the door of the room leaving the box and the Void inside, repeating to himself that no one will ever open this door and if he says it he believes it. Cyclops wakes up to a relieved Emma Frost. Beast then enters the room and has an argument with Cyclops and results in Beast leaving the island. The scientists in the island reveal to Cyclops that the the Predator X were a vehicle for the actual invasion. After killing the Predator X, a swarm of microscopic nanobots was released in the air, and are flooding the island and collecting data on its inhabitants. Cyclops sends Wolverine, Psylock and Colossus to discover the source. During a meeting with senior staff on preventing the island from sinking, Magneto shows up and tells them that he already worked things out with Namor and they're building a support pillar that keeps the Island from sinking. This angers Cyclops, as he tells Erik that he didn't respect the "chain of command" and he didn't have any business doing this behind his back and that's no way he could earn his trust. Magneto then leaves the island and goes to Mt. Tamalpais to "meditate". The next day, Scott and Emma go there to see what he's up to. However, they discover that Magneto has locked himself away from everyone, physically and mentally. The X-Men have discovered that five mutants were responsible for the invasion, working for John Sublime and seek to release the mutant plague HX-N1. Second Coming Ever since the end of Messiah Complex, Scott has been doing his best to protect Cable and Hope from dangers while he awaits their return. Cyclops has been shown to have enormous faith in the fact that Hope will not only return, but be the savior of the Mutant Race. When he receives news that Hope may have returned, he sends his Alpha Team out, while he coordinates the movements of the teams in Utopia. When X-Force is outed he gets some backlash from Nightcrawler. As time goes on, his strategies are being tested, some appear to question Scott's leadership. With the injuries to many X-Men, as well as they death of Nightcrawler and Ariel, Scott comes under fire with people questioning if Hope is worth it. Avengers vs X-Men When the Phoenix was revealed to be heading towards Earth, Captain America arrived on Utopia to talk to Cyclops. Captain America knew Hope was to become its host and wanted to take her off-world to prevent the Phoenix from coming to Earth. Cyclops refused however, saying the Phoenix was coming to restore mutantkind. Captain America gave him an ultimatum to hand Hope over however, since be believed that the Phoenix was coming to destroy the Earth. Cyclops refused and blasted the Captain, who responded by uncloaking a hellicarrier of Avengers who descended on Utopia. A battle between the Avengers and X-Men ensued, and the Avengers initially appeared victorious. Hope fled the island however and Cyclops revealed that the X-Men's defeat was as ruse and teleported away, giving him a headstart in the search for Hope. Hope scrammbled her signals and the X-Men and Avengers skirmished around the world while looking for her. Cyclops went to the Jean Grey School to convince the X-Men there to fight with him. Wolverine refused to aid him, declaring his allegience for the Avengers but other high-ranking staff members such as Angel, Rachel Summers and Iceman joined Cyclops. Cyclops got word that Hope had gone to the Moon to face the Phoenix and teleported there together with Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik. They encountered the Avengers there and a fight immediately broke out. The Phoenix began possessing Hope, who rejected it in fear that she wouldn't be able to control it. Iron Man then fired a highly experimental weapon designed to destroy the Phoenix. Instead however, it merely split it in five pieces that inhabited the five X-Men present. The now all-powerful Phoenixes led by Cyclops took Hope and returned to Earth. On Earth, they used their great powers to make the planet into a better place, eliminating wars and giving the peolpe of the world free energy, food, water and medicine. The Avengers however, still mistrusted the X-Men, believing that they would eventually lose control of their powers and that changing the world in such a rapid manner was wrong. Aided by the Scarlet Witch, they attacked Utopia to kidnap Hope. Cyclops and Emma engaged them, but found that the Scarlet Witch could hurt them. Hope left with the Avengers and Cyclops declared war on them. The X-Men began capturing Avengers one by one, but after Transonic was kidnapped, Namor disobeyed Cyclops' orders and attacked the Avengers stronghold in Wakanda. Through their combined might, the Avengers were just barely able to defeat Namor, and after knocking him out, his portion of the Phoenix left him for the remaining four Phoenixes. The Avengers then escaped to the mystical realm of K'un-Lun which was revealed to have a connection to the Phoenix. The Avengers began training Hope to take the Phoenix from the X-Men to defeat them. During a raid on an X-Men prison, Colossus and Magik lost their portions of the Phoenix, leavnig only Emma and Cyclops, who was now powerful enough to invade K'un-Lun. Hope managed to combine the powers of Iron Fist and Scarlet Witch to send Cyclops to the Moon. Emma was beginning to lose control of herself however, murdering those she deemed guilty of crimes against mutants and forcing the X-Men to worship her. She attempted to convince Cyclops to scorch the Earth and begin anew with her. Cyclops refused, but before they could conclude their conversation, the Avengers and X-Men united to stop them. Charles Xavier managed to use his telepathy to shut down Cyclops and Emma long enough for the Avengers and X-Men to do them damage. This led to Cyclops finally losing control of the Phoenix and killing Xavier before taking the final portion from Emma and becoming Dark Phoenix. Cyclops went on a rampage across the world but managed to regain control of himself long enough to beg Hope and the Scarlet Witch to kill him. A combined assault from Hope and Wanda, combined with his desire to be rid of the Phoenix allowed them to beat Cyclops and Hope to claim the Phoenix for herself. Hope dispersed the Phoenix and which was used to create new mutants. Cyclops was arrested by the Avengers and put in jail, but he declared that he didn't care about what happened to him since mutantkind was saved. Consequences While in jail, Cyclops began to come under assault from the prisons management who tried to kill him. Cyclops befriended his fellow prisoner, the only other mutant in his cell block. He was visited by Wolverine who had been asked by Captain America to try and extract infromation on the whereabouts of Cyclops' fellow X-Men. Cyclops began goading Wolverine who tried to kill him, before realizing that Cyclops wanted to die. While Cyclops was distracted, his friend was murdered. Wolverine then visited Cyclops again, telling him he knew that he didn't mean to kill Xavier and confessing that he had always admired and looked up to him, and still did to this day. He also asked Cyclops to not do what he was thikning of doing, and just sit tight. Cyclops considered what Wolverine had said, but eventually decided against it and contacted Magneto, Magik and Danger on the outside to break him out. The three of them arrived and destroyed the prison, freeing Cyclops, who told his team that they were going to keep doing what they had always done. Saving a world that hated and feared them. He also left a letter to Wolverine, saying that now that Wolverine was the better man, he no longer needed to be, and promised him that he would keep the children of his school safe. Mutant Rebellion Cyclops, Magneto and Magik began freeing wrongfully imprisoned and hunted mutants, declaring that mutantkind wasn't going to suffer abuse anymore. While freeing Emma Frost, Cyclops and Magneto both began losing control of their powers. Emma revealed that she had been going through a similar problem and told them that hosting the Phoenix had broken their mutatations (Magneto being affected due to the heavy blast of Phoenix energy Cyclops hit him with in the final battle). Magik was the only one not to be negatively affected, revealing that her powers had only grown since she could now summon energy from her Limbo dimension, allowing her to cast complex spells on Earth. Cyclops promised to find a way to fix them all, despite barely being able to control his optic blasts. While on a mission to help a new mutant, Cyclops and Magneto encountered the original five X-Men who had been brought back from the past by Beast. During the encounter, Jean Grey lost control of her powers and lashed out telekinetically at Cyclops and Magneto, causing Cyclops to lose his visor and begin blasting the original five X-Men. Magneto stopped the five from harming him and told Magik to teleport them away. Powers and Abilities Powers Optic Blast: Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a powerful beam of concussive, ruby-colored force from his eyes. Cyclops's eyes are no longer the complex organic jelly that utilizes the visible spectrum of light to see the world around it. Instead, they are inter-dimensional apertures between this universe and another, non-Einsteinian universe, where physical laws as we know them do not pertain. This non-Einsteinian universe is filled with particles that resemble photons, yet they interact with this universe's particles by transferring kinetic energy in the form of gravitons (the particle of gravitation). These particles generate great, directional concussive force when they interact with the objects of this universe. Cyclops's mind has a particular psionic field that is attuned to the forces that maintain the apertures that have taken the place of his eyes. Because his mind's psionic field envelops his body, it automatically shunts the other-dimensional particles back into their point of origin when they collide with his body. Thus, his body is protected from the effects of the particles, and even the thin membrane of his eyelids is sufficient to block the emission of energy. The synthetic ruby quartz crystal used to fashion the lenses of Cyclops's eyeglasses and visor is resonant to his minds' psionic field and is similarly protected. The width of Cyclops's eye-blast seems to be focused by his mind's psionic field with the same autonomic function that regulated his original eyes' ability to focus. As Cyclops focuses, the size of the aperture changes and thus act as a valve to control the flow of particles and beam's relative power. The height of Cyclops's eye-blast is controlled by his visor's adjustable slit. His narrowest beam, about the diameter of a pencil at a distance of 4 feet has a force of about 2 pounds per square inch. His broadest beam, about 90 feet across at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of about 10 pounds per square inch. His most powerful eye-blast is a beam 4 feet across which, at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of 500 pounds per square inch. The maximum angular measurement of Cyclops's eye-blast is equivalent to a wide-angle 35mm camera lens field of view (90 degrees measured diagonally, or the angle subtended by holding a magazine's pages spread open, upright at 9.5 inches from your eyes). The minimum angular measurement is equivalent to the angle that the thickness of a pencil would subtend at 4 feet (3.5 degrees, about a quarter of an inch viewed at 4 feet). The beam's effective range is about 2,000 feet, at which point a 1-inch beam has spread out to 10 feet square, and then has a pressure of .38 pounds per square inch. Cyclops's maximum force is sufficient to tip over a filled 5,000 gallon tank at a distance of 20 feet, or puncture a 1-inch carbon-steel plate at a distance of 2 feet. The extra dimensional supply of energy for Cyclops's eye-blast is practically infinite. Thus, so long as Cyclops's psionic field is active (which is constant), there is the potential to emit energy. The only limit to the eye-blast is the mental fatigue of focusing constantly. After about 15 minute of constant usage, the psionic field subsides and allows only a slight leakage of energy to pass through the aperture. Cyclops's metabolism will recover sufficiently for him to continue in about an additional 15 minutes. The maximum force of Cyclops' optic blasts are unknown, but a commonly given description is that he can "punch holes through mountains", and he has been shown to rupture a half-inch thick carbon steel plate. During a particular battle, Scott says that he hit Cain Marko (a.k.a. the Juggernaut) with enough power to split a small planet in half, though he may have been indulging in hyperbole. In the Age of Apocalypse dimension, his beams can cut through adamantium a previously indestructible metal. In the mainstream continuity of the Marvel Universe, it has also been implied that Cyclops only utilizes a fraction of the energies at his disposal. During the Civil War: X-Men story arc, Cyclops is controlled by another mutant to use his powers at their full magnitude. When directed at the energy-absorbing mutant Bishop, Cyclops was able to overload Bishop's powers in a matter of seconds. When Iron-man measured Cyclops's power whilst he was powering bishop, he found the energy output was well over 2 gigawatts, larger than a large nuclear reactor. It is also stated that Cyclops does not use his powers at such a level due to the preoccupation he has regarding his control (or lack thereof) of his abilities. Cyclops is seen fighting The Hulk in World War Hulk: X-Men #1 and in issue #2, where he uses a beam blast to stop the Hulk, refusing to let the Hulk take Professor Xavier. While it peels off some of the Hulk's skin, he was able to walk towards Cyclops and clench his entire face, effectively containing the blast. Spatial Awareness: Cyclops seems to possess an uncanny sense of trigonometry, in this sense used to describe his observation of objects around himself and the angles found between surfaces of these objects. Cyclops has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to cause his optic blasts to ricochet and/or reflect off those objects in a trajectory to his liking. This is commonly called a "banked shot" when applied to this talent. Cyclops has been observed causing beams to reflect from over a dozen surfaces in the course of one blast, and still hit his intended target accurately. It is his sense of superhumanly enhanced spatial awareness that allows him to perform these feats as well. Energy Resistance: Cyclops is resistant to the effects of his own powers. This is linked to him being capable of withstanding his brother's ability with no ill effects. This is a result of their close genetics, a quirk of mutant genetics that is common among siblings. Abilities Expert Pilot: Cyclops is an expert pilot of fixed-wing aircraft, a skill he appears to have inherited from his father. It has also been implied that his trigonometric sense improves his abilities in the air. Master Strategist and Tactician: Cyclops has spent most of his superhero career as the leader of either the X-Men or X-Factor and has developed exceptional leadership skills. It is notable that regardless of their general attitude towards him, all of the X-Men tend to obey his orders in battle - because they know that he's usually right. Master Martial Artist: Cyclops also has extensive training in martial arts and unarmed combat, holding black belts in judo and aikido. His level of skill is sufficient to defeat six normal men with his eyes closed and he has in the past held his own against such dangerous enemies as Wolverine and Ghost Rider. Strength level Normal human male who engages in intensive regular exercise. Weaknesses Cyclops is not immune to Vulcan's powers, but is immune to his brother Havok's powers. Though he is partially resistant to it. Paraphernalia Equipment Cyclops' Visor: The mask Scott wears to prevent random discharge is lined with powdered ruby quartz crystal. It incorporates two longitudinally mounted flat lenses which can lever inward providing a constantly variable exit slot of 0 inches to .79 inches in height and a constant width of 5.7 inches. The inverted clamshell mechanism is operated by a twin system of miniature electrical motors. As a safety factor their is a constant positive closing pressure provided by springs. The mask itself is made of high-impact plastic. There is an overriding finger-operated control mechanism on either side of the mask, and normal operation is through a flat micro-switch installed in the thumb of either glove. A separate pair of lenses were also designed for Scott to use while sleeping. Transportation: X-Men Blackbird, formerly X-Men Stratojet, Sentinel Air Transport and X-Factor Plane Weapons: When Scott used the disguise of Erik the Red, he was able to project his optic blasts through its gloves Film *He appears in the films X-Men, X-Men 2: X-Men United, X-Men 3: The Last Stand as one of the main characters. *Cyclops also appears in X-Men Origins: Wolverine with a minor role. Notes *Due to brain injury, Cyclops is unable to shut off his optic blasts at will and must therefore wear a visor or glasses with ruby quartz lenses that block the beams. *Mister Sinister claimed that Scott's eyes and brain became too reliant on ruby quartz rather than his injury. *Emma Frost has recently said the psychological trauma of losing his parents and being separated from his brother are primarily responsible for his inability to control his powers. *Scott frequently listens to the radio Trivia *Scott was very close to his mother in law Elaine Grey who acted as a motherly figure toward him. The two continued to be close even after the death of his wife Jean Grey. Scott was severely upset when Elaine was slain by Black Cloak, a random victim of the extermination of the Grey Genome. Category:Characters Category:Mutants Cyclops Category:Beta-level Mutant Category:Utopians Category:Martial Arts